1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a dial position changing device of a camera for changing the rotational position of a dial switch such as a mode select dial directly or indirectly which is used for selecting, e.g., a desired exposure mode from among various exposure modes.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Cameras having a mode select dial for selecting an exposure mode from among various exposure modes such as programmed AE (auto exposure) mode, aperture priority AE mode and shutter priority AE mode are known in the art. The mode select dial is usually provided on top of a camera body, and accordingly, the position (rotational position) of the mode select dial can be visually checked by looking at the mode select dial from above the camera body. For instance, in the camera disclosed in Japanese laid-open patent publication 2003-45292, the mode select dial is located on a top surface of a top cover of a camera body, and accordingly, it is difficult to visually check the position of the mode select dial when the user cannot look at the mode select dial from above the camera body, for instance, when the camera is held at or above eye level by hand or with a tripod. On this account, there is a possibility of the user releasing a shutter in an unintentional exposure mode with the mode select dial being set at a wrong exposure mode, thereby resulting in an incorrect exposure. Specifically, in digital cameras produced in recent years, a display monitor such as an LCD panel is provided on the back of the camera, and accordingly the user seldom looks at the camera body from above when taking pictures while viewing object images indicated on the display monitor, which becomes a cause of the above described problem.
In recent years digital cameras having a mode select dial which is operated not only for selecting an exposure mode from among various exposure modes such as mentioned above but also for selecting a setting mode from among various setting modes (e.g., white balance setting mode, ISO speed setting mode and image quality setting mode) in which predetermined settings on the camera need to be determined before making an exposure have been proposed. In this type of digital camera, it is sometimes the case that the user forgets to select a desired exposure mode by operating the mode select dial after selecting a setting mode from various setting modes such as mentioned above by operating the mode select dial. In this case, even if a release button is depressed, a photographing operation (exposure operation) is not carried out, so that the user may miss a chance of releasing the shutter at the right moment.
To prevent such a problem from occurring, it is possible to make a display monitor on a camera body indicate the currently-selected setting mode and exposure mode in the case of a digital camera to call attention to the user the currently-selected setting mode and exposure mode. In this case, it is also possible to make a portion of the display monitor indicate the current position of the mode select dial. This makes it possible to overcome at least the above described problem of depressing a release button with the mode select dial remaining set at a wrong exposure mode or with the mode select dial remaining forgotten to be operated to select an exposure mode.
However, even if the currently-selected setting mode and exposure mode and/or the current position of the mode select dial is indicated on the display monitor, it is still necessary for the user to operate the mode select dial by bringing either hand to a top part of the camera body at which the mode select dial is located when the user notices from the indication on the display monitor that the mode select dial is currently set at a wrong position. This sometimes makes the camera difficult to operate. Moreover, it is sometimes the case that either hand of the user cannot reach the mode select dial on top of the camera body during photography, and therefore cannot operate the mode select dial, which is an undesirable operability problem of the camera. To overcome this problem, it is also possible to provide an additional mode select dial having the same or similar function as the original mode select dial. However, this complicates the structure of the camera, especially the structure of the electric circuit for interconnecting these mode select dials, and an additional problem arises with the camera design.